Muslim inmates are upset, says this story. Will they explain to Holmes that “slay the polytheists wherever you find them” (Qur’an 9:5) and all the other exhortations to violence in the Qur’an are not to be understood literally? And what will they tell him if he responds by pointing out that Muslims are committing violence and justifying that violence by reference to those verses around the world more or less on a daily basis?
“Dark Knight killer James Holmes ‘is now a Muslim who prays five times a day,'” from the Daily Mail, March 20 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
James Holmes, the gunman behind the Dark Knight massacre in Colorado last July, has reportedly turned Muslim and prays five times a day.
The killer showed off a lengthy, thick beard during a court appearance earlier this month, and a prison source has claimed it is a symbol of his new-found faith.
The source said Holmes has turned to Islam as a way of justifying his horrific murder spree in an Aurora, Colorado cinema on July 20 which left 12 people dead and 58 people wounded.
‘He has brainwashed himself into believing he was on his own personal jihad and that his victims were infidels,’ a prison source told the National Enquirer.
He now prays five times a day, sticks to a strict Muslim diet and spends hours each day studying the Qur’an, the source said. But his new routine has upset Muslim inmates.
‘None of them condone forms of terrorism or extremism,’ the source added. ‘And they don’t want their religion to be connected to that awful shooting.’
Holmes sported a thick, bushy beard and unkempt dark brown hair during his appearance earlier this month – a stark difference to his bright orange hair at the time of the massacre.
Holmes is charged with 166 counts, mostly murder and attempted murder, in the assault on moviegoers at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora.
On the night of the attack, prosecutors say he donned a police-style helmet, gas mask and body armor, tossed a gas canister into the seats and then opened fire….